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Trade schools are alternative education that teach a specific technical skill rather than a college where students are taught a wide variety of subjects while concentrating in one. I have plenty of friends who opted for a trade school after high school because they knew exactly what they wanted to do and it was much more cost-effective to jump right into the field and learn what they actually want to do. As someone who pretty much exclusively writes, I really didn’t have too much of an option, but I think trade schools sound extremely pragmatic and useful, especially considering education as an institution is inherently flawed and not well-suited for everyone.

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After taking a look at the Best Vocational Careers for the Future and determining the jobs that have longevity for the long run, we thought it’d be interesting to take a look at what jobs pay the most. It’d be interesting to see if the two lists overlap at all. You’ll be surprised to see that you can still make a healthy salary without going through a university education system and receiving a degree. Completing trade school is an equally important accomplishment and can still get you far.

In order to find the highest paying jobs, we looked for reputable sources that featured skilled trade jobs. The data was derived mostly from Forbes and Trade Schools. We took jobs that appeared on both lists, like a cross-reference, and used the US Bureau of Labor Statistics to rank them based on their annual median salary. Obviously, the jobs with the highest salary are at the top of the list when figuring the ranks. These jobs are occupations requiring no formal education and only skills learned from trade schools and apprenticeships and are also known as manual labor jobs.

Without further ado, let’s check out the highest paying trade school jobs in America.